20.10 October Issue Highlights

THE DESIGN ISSUE: An object is no longer something you consume. It’s something you create. Meet the Liberators who are Setting Design Free:

COVER: Dreaming in 3D / pg. 136

WIRED explores how MakerBot’s latest 3D machine, the sleek Replicator 2, will launch the era of desktop manufacturing. You’ve heard of 3D printers – practically every gadget you own has been prototyped on a 3D printer; ditto for the newer buildings around you – but you probably don’t own one yet. MakerBot is putting down a multimillion-dollar wager that 3-D printing has hit its mainstream moment.

Etsy Goes Pro / pg. 158

Etsy, the e-commerce site where people buy and sell handmade creations, made possible a parallel retail universe that countered the alienation of mass production with unique, homespun items. Now at a crossroads, Etsy is implementing bold changes to accommodate the purist handcrafter and hang on to “independent creative businesses” – including a program that will soon bring Etsy goods to your local mall. Can a marketplace that made its name as a righteous alternative to business-as-usual go pro without losing its soul?

Creation Engine / pg. 172

Software company Autodesk used to make tools for engineers and architects. Now Autodesk is the most prominent tech company to commit to the“Big Make,” a vision of the future in which makers aren’t just a cultural force, but a profit center too. But can the kings of computer remodeling learn how to remodel themselves?

PLUS: How Nerf became the world’s number one purveyor of guns for kids (pg. 144); Gorilla Glass helped make the iPhone great. How Corning turned a 50-year-old flop into the ultrathin, ultra-strong material of the future (pg. 152); the Chinese tycoon who figured out how to manufacture a 30-story skyscraper in just 15 days (pg. 164)